Must activities have ceased completely before the transfer date?

Usually, although not always. A change in service provider normally means one provider ceasing to carry out the activities, to be replaced by a new provider, or the original client taking the services back in-house. The fact that the old provider is still carrying out some of the activities on behalf of the client after the transfer date is likely to make it harder to persuade a tribunal that there has been a service provision change (see, for example Ward Hadaway Solicitors v Love [2010] UKEAT/471/09). However, as always each case depends on its own facts. For example, a service provision change was found in Metropolitan Resources Ltd v Churchill [2009] UKEAT/286/08, a case involving the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers, even though the transferor still retained a few clients after the Home Office terminated its contract.